Closures for liquid containers



May 21, 1957 o. B. YORKER CLOSURES FOR LIQUiD CONTAINERS Filed April 29, 1954 n m N m m VK T mR-A m M United States Patent CLOSURES FOR LIQUID CONTAINERS Oscar B. Yorker, Denver, Colo. Application April 29, 1954, Serial No. 426,423 2 Claims. (Cl. 222-498) This invention relates to closures for liquid containers and more particularly to pouring spouts and spout caps for use with liquid containers.

It has become a common practice to package such liquid items as lighter fluid and light machine oil in small tin cans provided with a tapered spout and a threaded cap as a closure. Pouring spouts of this type are usually made of some non-resilient material such as lead or hard plastic which may be threaded to receive the cap. This type of spout and cap is unsuitable for many liquids which solidify or become gummy upon contact with the air because the caps become frozen in place and can be removed only with great ditficulty. Efforts have been made to overcome this objection by the use of friction caps which merely slip over the spout; however, the caps are easily dislodged and lost especially if pressure is exerted by liquid in the container. Accidental removal of the cap becomes especially important in the case of containers filled with flammable or corrosive liquids which are likely to cause serious physical damage or personal injury.

Among the objects of the present invention are to provide; a spout and cap which combine to form an air and liquid tight seal for use on liquid containers; a spout and cap which are extremely difiicult to separate by pressure exerted from within the container yet, which can be easily separated withthe fingers; a cap which seals the discharge opening in the spout to prevent leakage that might cause a fire or other damage; a cap and spout which may be used to seal containers filled with liquids which have a tendency to solidify or become gummy upon contact with air; and a cap and spout combination of the type described herein which is decorative, readily adaptable to many different sizes and types of container necks, and which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out specifically hereinafter in connection with the description of the drawing which follows; and in which,

Figure 1 is an elevation showing the upper portion of a liquid container provided with a closure having the spout and spout cap of the present invention, portions of which have been broken away to better show the construction;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in section showing the tip of the spout with the spout cap in place thereon;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the tip of the spout; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged half section of the spout cap.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawing, reference numeral designates a liquid container of the type hav ing a neck portion 12'provided with conventional means such as external thread 14 for attaching a bottle cap. The container has been shown as made of plastic because the closure of the present invention is particularly suited to use with a container which may be squeezed to force out the liquid, such as the type commonly employed for chemicals, hand lotion, deodorants, and anti-perspirants. In addition to plastic containers, the closure of the present invention may be used to advantage with compressible metal containers of the type used for lighter fluid and light machine oil. The closure, indicated in a general way by numeral 16, consists of a bottle cap 18 adapted to in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the spout.

Figure 4 shows the spout cap 22 in half section. The portion of the curved inner surface of the spout cap which will lie adjacent annular rib 26 on the spout when the spout cap is in position as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is sized to contact the outer surface of the spout both below the annular rib 26 and for some distance above the rib. An annular rib 28 is provided on the inside surface of the spout cap positioned so that its upper face 30 will contact the lower face 32 of annular rib 26 on the spout when the top of the spout cap 34 is in position to seal disc 'arge opening 24 as shown in Figure 2. Annular ribs 26 and 23 cooperate to hold the spout cap in proper position to seal the discharge opening.

in Figure 2 the spout cap is shown attached to the spout in position to seal opening 24. Although the inner curved surface of the spout cap is tapered to contact the outer surface of the spout adjacent the rib portion, either the spout or the spout cap, or both, must flex slightly in order to permit the annular ribs to pass over one another. Therefore, at least one of these members must be formed of a resilient material which can be stretched or compressed, as the case may be, to permit the spout cover to be attached to the spout. Even though a very slight fiexing of one of the members is all that is necessary in order to accomplish the connection it is of utmost importance that at least one of the members be formed of a resilient material which can flex the desired amount. A material which is permanently deformed, such as lead, is unsuitable, in that the seal which results between faces 30 and 32 of the annular ribs would be broken if the material did not tend to spring back to its original shape. It has been found that forming one or both members 20 and 22 of a moulded resilient plastic such as Teflon or polyethylene provides an excellent seal. The preferred embodiment of the present invention being that in which both members 20 and 22 are formed of a resilient plastic material. Comparing the spout cap in Figures 2 and 4, it will be seen that the cap has been sprung outward slightly from its original shape in order to pass over rib 26 of the spout. In this position the cap squeezes the spout forming an air and liquid tight seal between upper face 30 and lower face 32 and also provides a grip on the spout which will with stand extreme pressures from within the container on top 34. A second air and liquid tight annular seal 36 is formed between contacting surfaces of the spout cap and spout above the ribs. The third and most important seal exists between the underside of top 34 of the spout cap and the portions of the spout adjacent the discharge opening 24. This seal confines any pressure from within the container tending to dislodge the spout cap to the small area of the discharge opening. Increasing the taper on the spout tends to increase the holding power of the annular ribs.

Having thus described the important and novel features of my invention, it will be seen that the several objects for which it was constructed have been achieved; and therefore,

I claim:

1. A closure for liquid containers comprising a pouring spout having a tapered upper end portion provided a 3 with a discharge opening at its free end and having an annular rib extending completely and uninterruptedly therearound in predetermined spaced relation below said end portion, a resilient cap having a tapered inner surface to receive the free end of said spout, said cap including an irnper'vi'ous top and having an inwardly projecting and continuous annular rib formed on its inner surface and spaced from the inner surface of said top by an amount not greater than the said distance between the rib on said spoilt and the end portion thereof plus the width of the spout 'r'ib,so that said ribs simultaneously form lock and a continuous and uninterrupted annular seal between said cap and spout when the rib on said cap is engaged below the rib on said spout, said ribs being held in forceful sealed interengagernent by the abutting relation between the inner surface of said top of the cap and the upper end portion of the spout and simultaneously sealing off said discharge opening in the spout.

2. A closure for liquid containers as defined in and by claim 1 wherein the inner surface of said cap between the rib thereon and the inner surface of said top is of a taper similar to the taper of said spout and of such dimensions as to snugly engage the surface of said spout between the rib thereon and the discharge end thereof to elfect a further seal in this region.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,983,101 Scribner Dec. 4, 1934 2,601,039 Livingstone June 17, 1952 2,665,945 Barton Jan. 12, 1954 2,670,885 Allen Mar. 2, 1954 

